Year A, Easter 6, John 14:15-21
My first Zoom service at Trinity Church, Matawan with Christ Church, South Amboy

We’re just getting to know each other, so I’m going to start with a story. In the first week of my first semester at college, I joined the Episcopal Campus Ministry group at the University of Delaware. In that time of my life, everything was new and scary. Everything was changing. On one of my first nights with the campus ministry group, my new friend Amelia, a sophomore, shared something she’d learned. She said to find something you do or see every day: a tree out your window, your coffee pot, maybe even your toothbrush. Take one everyday object and use it as a reminder. Make it so that every time you see this particular thing, you remember that the God who made you loves you madly, and that God’s love is unbreakable. Since it was fall, I chose leaves falling off trees, and fifteen years later, the lesson has stayed with me. Today’s gospel passage shows Jesus’ offering the disciples a similar teaching. In this passage, Jesus seeks to comfort the disciples by reminding them off all the things they can do to draw closer to God and that God is always with them – no matter what.

In today’s gospel passage, Jesus is trying to comfort some scared, confused disciples. This passage comes from a part of John’s gospel called the Farewell Discourse, John 13-17. In these chapters, Jesus talks to the disciples about his upcoming departure, how he will be betrayed, and how Peter will deny him. I can only imagine how confused and scared the disciples were to hear all of this. Jesus is telling them that everything they know is about to change in some sad and scary ways. Jesus’ words to the disciples are words of comfort that are grounding the disciples – and grounding us – in what we already know. Isn’t it funny the simple things we forget when we’re stressed out? Jesus comforts the disciples by reminding them that they have everything they need to draw closer to God, even when he can’t be there with them.

Today’s gospel passage begins and ends with reminders to follow Jesus’ commandments – Jesus teachings. What do all of Jesus’ teachings have in common? They’re all about relationships: Love God. Love your neighbor. Love God by loving your neighbor. Jesus demonstrates this love with humble service and unceasing compassion. Jesus’ actions are as full of love as his words are. Loving people this way is the path to God, and no matter how much the world changes, this path stays the same. And the more deeply and fully that we love, the more we see God around us.

Both in the opening and closing lines of this passage, there is a promise that God’s presence will always be with us, when we live our lives according to this commandment of love. In the closing verses, Jesus tells us that he himself will be revealed to us; an example of this would be the way that I saw Christ made manifest in Amelia’s loving words of wisdom. Now, in the opening verses, Jesus promises the disciples an advocate who will always be with them; this is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is God’s love always accompanying the disciples – and always accompanying us, wherever we go. There’s no place too far, too strange, too scary, too dark, or too socially distanced for the Holy Spirit. She is relentless in her love.

We’re in chapter of history where our world has changed in some big ways that we’ve never seen before. In the midst of all of these changes, we’re all here together for our first Sunday, embarking on a new chapter. I know there will be surprises ahead for us, but I know we’ll face them together, growing in love with God and each other. The path to grow with God is the same love-filled path it’s always been, and we’re navigating it together now. There is a sweet, sweet Spirit in this place – the same Spirit with us in all of the places we’re zooming from today.